For many years, veterans have been told to register their military discharges with the County Register of Deeds for safekeeping and easy retrieval. In the past, there have been reports that unauthorized individuals have obtained personal information from veteran's DD 214s under public record laws.

In Wisconsin, state law protects the privacy and confidentiality of veteran's DD 214s filed with the county. ccording to Wisconsin Statues 45.05, "The certificate shall be accessible only to the discharged person or that person's dependents or duly authorized representative, as defined in s. 45.04 (1) (a), the county veterans service officer, the department, or any person with written authorization from the discharged person or that discharged person's dependents". ny DD 214s that the Wisconsin Department of Veterans ffairs (WDV) or the County Veterans Service Offices has in their possession are also confidential documents under state law.

The County Veterans Service Officer ssociation (CVSO) and the Wisconsin Register of Deeds ssociation (WRD) encourage all veterans who have not done so to register their DD 214s with the county, free-of-charge, to ensure safekeeping of this important document which is used to obtain veteran's benefits from the state and federal government. The confidentiality and privacy of the document are well protected under state law.

Veterans who have filed their DD 214s outside the State of Wisconsin should check with your respective state's custodian of records as to the confidentiality of your record.

Sign Up for VA Benefit Updates

Connect with WICVSO

WASHINGTON - This week the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) took a key step in its digital modernization effort by revamping its website accessed by 10 million customers per month who use VA's tools and content online.